Crowdsource by Google is a way for you to help make the world a more inclusive place, by participating in fun activities that train Google's artificial intelligence (AI) systems to more accurately understand more languages and cultures, and make Google services work even better for your own community and region.

In this article, I will cover all you need to know about Crowdsource by Google and why your contributions matter.

Let’s dive right in.

What is Crowdsource by Google ?

Crowdsource by Google, also known as Google Crowdsource , is a crowdsourcing platform developed by Google intended to improve a host of Google services through the user-facing training of different algorithms.

In simpler terms, Crowdsource by Google is a fun, easy way for one to use their own abilities to contribute to the building blocks of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The Crowdsource App was released for Android on Google Play store on August 29, 2016, and is also available on the web.

Crowdsource Android and Web apps include a variety of short tasks that allow users to answer quick questions in a gamified UI, and help generate training data for Machine Learning (ML).

By completing these tasks, you provide Google with data to improve services such as Google Maps, Google Translate, Google Photos and many more . I will talk more about these tasks in the next section.

Features of Google Crowdsource

The main noticeable features of the Crowdsource App are the Tasks - what I like to call Categories, Achievements and the Leaderboard.

1. Tasks

After Installing the Android app, you are presented with different tasks/categories namely : Smart Camera , Image Label Verification, Sentiment Evaluation, Handwriting Recognition, Translation,
Translation Validation and Image Capture.

Smart Camera

This task involves pointing your camera at an object and seeing
if Google’s object recognition technology can guess what it is.

By contributing to this task, you help to improve object recognition technology.

Images Label Verification

Image Label verification allows you to choose any image category your choice, such as “Smile” ( I specifically like this one) and then presents you with a picture, asking the question “Does this image contain Smile?” All you have to do is select “Yes”, “No” or “Skip" if you are not sure.

The data gained from this task is used to help in Classification and Improve Google Photos.

Sentiment Evaluation

In Sentiment evaluation, you are presented with a text and the question, “What kind of emotion is expressed in the text below?” All you have to do is indicate whether the sentence is mostly positive, negative or neutral based on the emojis provided.

These evaluations help with various recommendation-based technologies that Google uses on platforms like Google Maps, the Google Play Store, and YouTube

Handwriting Recognition

Handwriting recognition relies on you to read handwritten words and transcribe them to text. You are therefore required to type the text as it is written,including uppercase, lowercase letters and punctuation marks.

According to Google, completing this task helps improve Gboard's handwriting feature.

Translation

Translation related tasks( translation and translation validation) are only shown to users who have selected more than one language they are fluent in. In this task you are presented with a phrase in one of the languages you are fluent in and asked to translate it into another language you are also fluent in. In translation validation, you are presented with a list of translations submitted by other users, and asked to choose the checkmark for a correct meaning and X for an incorrect one.

Your contributions here help improve translation quality in Google Translate, Maps and any other app with translated content.

Image capture

In this task, you capture and tag a photo using descriptive labels in your local language. By doing this, you help improve Google image recognition technology and make products like Google Search better for everyone. This is a perfect opportunity to promote your culture by uploading local content that is not recognized by everyone.

When you upload your first image, Crowdsource asks whether you would like to open-source your images and labels. This means that your images and labels will be publicly available for anyone to download and use. All open-sourced images are credited to you using your Google Account name at the time you upload the image.

If you are interested in learning more about Open Source in Crowdsource, check out this link or this page.

2. Achievements

The “Achievements” section shows you your stats and badges earned through completing different tasks in Crowdssource.

3. Leaderboard

The leaderboard shows your rank in terms of your contributions as well as those of others. This could serve as a motivation for you to level up to a higher rank than others and represent your country- I use this technique most of the time.

Now that we have covered the features of Crowdsource, let’s look at why your contributions matter.

Why it Matters?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) powers some of the most magical experiences in your favorite apps and products. It helps organize your photos, understand your voice commands, show you the most relevant reviews for products and businesses, and much more!

AI learns these skills by studying vast numbers of examples. The more examples it has for your language, region, or culture, the better it gets for you and everybody in your community.

When you use Crowdsource by google, you improve products like Google Translate, Google Maps and Google Search for your community. Crowdsource gathers feedback from you and others around the world to design products that represent people and cultures everywhere.

Watch this 2-minute video to learn more.

How to Get involved with Crowdsource by Google

The beauty of Crowdsource is Diversity. You get to interact with many contributors around the world and learn different cultures through fun-filled meetups and activities.

You can join the global community of passionate Crowdsource users by getting started at the main Crowdsource website or downloading the Android app and looking out for any Crowdsource events.

You can also share your experience on Twitter using #GoogleCrowdsource and you will definitely hear from other community members. You can also find out if there is a Crowdsource community in your region and be part of it. If not, you can always reach out to the Crowdource team and start your own community.

Now's the time to join the growing Crowdsource community that's making such a positive difference in people's lives, so please tell your family and friends about Crowdsource!

Try Crowdsource, Make a Difference.

If you find this article useful, feel free to share and reach out to me on Twitter .

Happy Crowdsourcing!!